Navigating stepfamily life can be difficult for everybody involved – the stepparents, the stepchildren, and the biological parents. We attempt to answer some commonly asked questions about everybody’s role in a stepfamily.

Let us help you make yours successful.

Healing the Stepfamily from the inside out.

Sometimes just hearing what someone else has to say helps so much! I encourage you to write down your own experiences and send them to us. It’s wonderful and healing when you come to realize that whatever you are going through, someone else is going through the same thing. It is my hope to make this site informative and helpful in your journey.

What does it take to be a good team player — whether at your job or in your family life? Well, to be a good team player, it takes the ability to have openness, generosity, flexibility, and patience. And nowhere are these skills more needed than in stepfamily life.

Here are some ways to be sure you’re being the best team player in your stepfamily that you can be:

Married life is hard work. Between jobs, kids, social obligations, family and friends, your relationship is often the last thing you put effort into.

When you first started out, you likely made sure to take the time needed to go on dates, spend quality time together and get to know each other. Once you said, “I do,” you probably breathed a sigh of relief thinking you’d never have to date again. You were wrong.

One of the most important things you can do for your relationship is to have weekly date nights. No matter how much you have going on during the week, how long you’ve been together, how many kids you have, or how much you hated dating when you were single, there is no excuse to not take an evening out of the week to reconnect with your partner.

Fans of Mad Men watched the season end with Betty Draper deciding to leave her philandering, lying, cheating, dishonest, albeit absolutely gorgeous, husband Don. With three children in tow, she is off to Reno with the new man in her life to obtain a “quickie” divorce – in those days, six weeks of residency establishes a divorce with no contest.

Will she quickly move into the arms of the man who is there to rescue her? A man she barely knows and with whom no significant conversation has taken place?

A new year is here — a year to spend time strengthening your stepfamily, overcoming obstacles, and taking advantage of all the information out there on stepfamily life, including this wonderful magazine, StepMom Magazine.

If you haven’t noticed, this past year has seen a burgeoning of information about stepfamily life. This is such an amazing time because, up until now, everything about living in a stepfamily has been suffered through silently by most of us living in it. No one to talk to. No one who really gets it. No understanding of what the issues are and how to talk to our husbands (or wives if you’re a stepdad). No certainty that if we agree to be a part of the life of someone with children, we can demand that they go on this journey with us. (We go with them, but we also need them to go with us).

These are the final three tasks Dr. Judith Wallerstein believes can help you have a satisfying marriage:

Task #7: Share laughter and keep interests alive. The saying is true: Laughter really is the best medicine. Humor is one of the greatest ways couples can break any tension between then and come back together. If couples are able to laugh together, they can often use it to play and keep their connection fun. When paired with doing activities that are interesting to both of you, it can be unifying and strengthen your bond.